December 15, 2013

Science Attempts to Understand God! Film at 11.

I live with a teenage genius. He reads physics texts for
recreation, analyzes the evening news, and engages me in conversations that challenge
me to keep up. Yes, that’s my 14 year-old son Bradley, the scientist of the
family.

One such encounter took place yesterday. While reading his
December issue of Scientific American,
he came across an article titled “Is God Dying?” (I found it online) Of course the Almighty is
hardly mortal, but this story sets out to explore the state of religious
devotion in our present-day nation and world. Bradley asked me to read the
article, and offer my thoughts. .

.

The article cites a recent survey of citizens in 13
countries by the Bertelsmann Foundation, which sought to determine whether we’re
becoming more, or less, religious over time. Their conclusions were intriguing.
My first response was to observe that this reputable science journal seemed remarkably
unscientific in its approach to this important subject.

.

One significant metric, in the view of the editors:

In
response to the statements “Only politicians who believe in God are suitable
for public office” and “Leading religious figures should exercise an influence
on government decisions,” even in über-religious America only 25 percent agreed
with the former and 28 percent with the latter.

Really? This is proof that we’re less devoted than our
ancestors? As a Christian, I couldn’t disagree more. I have no interest in
imposing a “religious test” for my political leaders, and I don’t want my
preacher lobbying on Capitol Hill. To say that such views make me "less religious,”
is absurd.

Another measure:

In
Spain, for example, 85 percent of respondents older than 45 reported being
moderately to very religious, but only 58 percent of those younger than 29 said
they were. In Europe in general, only 30 to 50 percent said that religion is
important in their own lives.

Well, the increasing secularization of the Continent is
certainly nothing new. But for this survey, I’d be interested to know how they
asked the question. Many believers I know (whatever their belief) will quickly
reject the label “religious” because (for them) it implies a shallow belief.
They want to part of it.

Another interesting measure, according to the authors: With
the spread of democracy around the world, religious freedom follows. Hence no
single religion can leverage the arm of the state to enforce conformity. Which
means fewer adherents. Fair enough.

But allow me to posit a different interpretation of the
data: With this liberty the churches are populated by true believers,
not conscripts. Therefore (perhaps) we don’t have a true decline today, but
instead an undetected overcount yesterday.

Finally, the authors tell us, the rise of free trade has brought
about more wealth and less poverty. Since churches traditionally feed the poor,
they now have less to do. A smaller enterprise means fewer workers. Generally
speaking this is a good thing, right?

The problem is, when relief workers run out of famines and floods to fix,
they lose their sense of purpose. (Just imagine that you went to law school for years, only to discover on graduation day that people have stopped suing each other.) They’re not content to return to a normal job back home in a cubicle, and normal worship in a pew. So these believers need a new reason to follow God, and sometimes they just don't find it. Perhaps it’s not such a bad thing, that they feel a need to examine their faith afresh from time to time.

As I neared the end of the article, a strange thought crosed my mind: This is a science journal! Why do they care? Surely all religion is a matter of faith, which means that you believe in something you can't see or touch or hear or "prove" by any empirical means. By its very nature, all such pursuits are foolish and irrational to those outside the fold (1 Cor. 1:18). They just don't get it.

Perhaps science just isn't equipped to explain things that can't be tested by an algorithm. For if you seek to understand the realm of religion according to the customary worldly benchmarks, you'll be disasppointed every time. I thank God every day, that my faith doesn't rest on such false tests.
.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Hear ye, hear ye!

Since the late 19th century, London’s Hyde Park has been known as a symbol of free speech in the Western World. In a section known as Speaker’s Corner, anyone can step onto a wooden crate (the type that was used for transporting soap) and have his say on any subject under the sun – politics, religion, current events, or anything else. Well, I’ve never been to London. But here I am, anyway. Deal with it.

Why I'm here

Welcome to my blog. From a very young age I always wanted to be a writer. I had plenty of things to say, but no forum and no audience. Well, now I have both. Through my books and my weekly posts, maybe I can change the world, one keystroke at a time.

About Me

I was born in 1962 in an old Spanish colony on the coast of California. They called it The Village of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels, in honor of Mary the mother of Jesus. Never heard of it? Oh, silly me. Like most people, you probably know it by its abbreviated name in Spanish:Los Angeles.
I grew up somewhere between the gleaming glass towers of Bunker Hill and the bright lights of Hollywood.